Dirk Nowitzki sat in a chair courtside, reflecting on the Dallas Mavericks first playoff road win in three years.

For a once "terrible" road team, in the words of Nowitzki, they looked perfectly relaxed in San Antonio, a day after beating the Spurs in the series opener.

"The advantage we just gained, we don't want to give it right back," Nowitzki said. "We've seen it happen before."

Not since the 2006 NBA finals had the Mavs led in a playoff series. But they've now got a 1-0 edge after going to Josh Howard early, relying on their bench late and wearing down rival San Antonio in a 105-97 victory on Saturday night.

About the only thing wrong for San Antonio on Sunday was that Jason Kidd didn't practice because of a stomach illness.